By Kaylee Thompson *A reflection written by a CLDI youth worker who desperately desires kids to know the God who will never leave nor forsake them. Even as one who has seen God use the little day-to-day interactions to make a difference, she still wrestles with...
Mzungu! Where Are You Going? by Ashley Hatmaker
*This past July, Ashley Hatmaker, a CLDI Youth Works staff, took one of our South Side youth, Sabrina, on a 3 week mission trip to Uganda. We have been blessed to work with Sabrina the past six years and watch her grow into a young woman passionately in love with...
Seeing God at Work in the Lives of South Side Youth
*The following is a reflection from our Youth Works staff to give testimony of the ways the Lord was at work in the lives of our students last summer. As we lean into a fast-approaching summer, perhaps this will lead you in how to pray for our Youth Works staff and...
Through the Eyes of an Intern
Moving to the South Side has not been what I expected. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what I expected! It must have been something along the lines of becoming best friends with all our neighbors and having deep conversations with them all the time. So far we’ve only...
Campout Turned Slumber Party
This summer Youth Works has been filled with taking our South Side youth on day hikes, camp trips, and backpacking. As we looked towards the last stretch of summer, Ashley (fellow Youth Works staff) and I were hoping to take some of our friends in 4th, 5th, and 6th...
A Philosophy for Ministry
Many leadership experts say that a leader should remind their people of the ministry’s mission no less than every 30 days. I can’t say that I always do that with my staff, however, on a personal level I do think of this often. To be quite honest, given the...
The Way of Discipleship
I wonder how many of us professing Christians truly think about discipleship? I believe it is fair to say that we live in a time and place where it is quite easy to be a follower of Jesus. We can meet freely and publically, we can download a plethora of sermons from...